Rating: 3.5/5 ⭐️

I had high hopes for *Killer Potential*, and while it delivered in some areas, it fell flat in others. As a thriller, it starts strong—gripping, intense, and full of promise. The plot and characters were well-developed, and there were moments of genuine suspense that had me hooked.

But then came the middle. Things got… weird. The pacing slowed, and the story took a few turns that felt more confusing than compelling. The writing, while atmospheric, sometimes became *too* atmospheric—so heavy on the mood that it distracted from the plot. And the ending? A bit of a letdown. After all the buildup, I was hoping for something more satisfying.

Overall, *Killer Potential* had its moments, but it didn’t fully deliver on its promise. A decent read, but not a standout in the genre.

Would I recommend it? Maybe—if you don’t mind an uneven journey to get to the finish line.

The premise of this book is what hooked me but found myself easily predicting the next turn and the next twist to the point where I felt bored. I feel bad giving this a low rating (2.5, rounding up here) because I really did enjoy the start and the premise but it just felt poorly executed. The pacing could use some work and perhaps more creative prose and sentence structure? Some parts felt overly repetitive. One thing I loved about this its queerness. That’s another thing that kept me reading - I did enjoy the dynamic between the main girlies but overall not something I would excitedly recommend. I really appreciate the arc and the opportunity to review this book.

Killer Potential by Hannah Deitch is a so-so female fugitives on the run story.

Evie Gordon is a 29-year-old SAT tutor who arrives for her weekly lesson with Serena Victor at the family's Beverly Hills estate and finds her parents murdered. She also frees a woman tied up in a secret closet. Then Serena returns home, mistakes the two for the killers and while she is swinging a lamp at Evie, Evie hits her with a vase, possibly killing her. Then Serena's boyfriend comes in and spots the two so they flee. Evie drives to a distant Walmart, buys supplies for their life on the run, and then empties her bank accounts. For all of this the woman she rescues refuses to speak. What follows is a tale of their life on the run across the country.

Often I can set disbelief aside for a good story but not in this case. It was simply too unbelievable right from the start. Evie is 29-years old. If you arrive for your scheduled weekly lesson, find the door open and two people murdered you exit the house and call 911. Period. You can't go on ad nauseam about how smart you are while making one bad decision after another. The only thing that kept me reading was to see what manner of bad choices would follow but I could have easily set it aside at any point.

This is for those who enjoy a life on the lam novel full of bad choices. Thanks to HarperCollins for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.

The review will be published on Edelweiss, Barnes & Noble and Amazon.

meh. It was fine. I'm sure it will be polished up for a tv series and maybe that's the audience it needs.

Was this unhinged? Yes. Did I still have a great time? Absolutely. Parts of it felt a little prescriptive for the genre, but again, who am I to complain because I was having a ball! Is any of this believable as a real life story? Absolutely not. But damn, it was fun and funny and even heartfelt at times. Exactly what I needed to bust a reading slump. I was looking forward to bedtime every day just so I could figure out what else these crazy ladies were getting up to!

Thank you to NetGalley and the Author and Publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

A murder mystery thriller. LGBT friendly. This was interesting book, Jae was my favorite character. Great concept for thriller reads.

I received an advanced copy of this book through NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. For a debut, this work is extremely impressive to me. I have been waiting for a book that I need to tear through while the rest of the world falls away. This had a Thelma and Louise feel to it, sans the terrible Susan S.

Evie Gordon is an SAT tutor with a Masters degree who hasn't found the right footing in her career. She shows up for her regular Sunday afternoon tutoring session for Serena Victor, and something is amiss. She discovers Serena's parents, dead in a double murder, and is about to leave and call 911 when she hears a voice pleading for help. It belongs to a young woman who appears to have been tied up in a secret passageway of the mansion.

Evie panics when someone sees her and the other person in a compromising position and fears she will be accused of the Murders. She gets in her car with the unidentified woman and chucks her phone.

From then on out, they're on the run. Evie manages to coax some information from the young woman who eventually says her name is Jae. They run into a lot of obstacles, people who threaten their freedom. Until a key piece of information Jae left out leaves Evie questioning everything. Will she be convicted for Murders she didn't commit? Is she responsible for the crimes done on the run?

This book is beautifully written and paced. For most of the book, we only get Evie's point of view until the twist is revealed, and we get alternating chapters between Jae and Evie. My only issue is that it's tricky that the author doesn't identify the narrator. You just have to figure it out as a reader by the context. Both women have some tragedy in their past and the feeling of aimless direction and failure, despite being smart.

5/5☆ release 3/18/25.

I enjoyed this adventure quite a lot. The twists and turns kept me engaged despite some of their improbability. I alternated between the ebook and audio, and both mediums were compelling. I appreciated the commentary on elite liberal arts colleges and how it prepares many of us to blend in amongst the wealthy - a great skilled acquired as an undergraduate.

It sounds like you’re asking for a review of Killer Potential by Hannah Deitch. Here’s a 4-star review based on the novel’s overall strengths and areas that could have been improved:

Rating: 4/5 stars

Killer Potential by Hannah Deitch is a gripping psychological thriller that keeps readers on the edge of their seats from start to finish. The novel’s strength lies in its intricate plotting and well-developed characters. The protagonist, whose journey into the depths of crime and deception unfolds with every twist, is both compelling and relatable. Deitch masterfully explores themes of trust, betrayal, and the human capacity for manipulation.

The pacing of the story is well-balanced, with suspense building steadily, and there’s a constant undercurrent of tension that makes it hard to put down. The author’s ability to surprise the reader with unexpected developments and complex relationships is impressive.

However, while Killer Potential is undeniably engaging, there are moments where the narrative feels slightly predictable. Some secondary characters are a bit underdeveloped, leaving a few threads in the plot unresolved, which might leave some readers wanting more depth.

Overall, Killer Potential offers an exciting read for fans of psychological thrillers. Deitch’s storytelling is sharp, and while the novel isn’t perfect, it certainly lives up to its

Dark, delicious, sexy, queer.
One of those - what did I just read? Where did it go wrong? How did I MISS THAT?
A struggling former gifted student, Evie tutors Serena - until she discovers her murdered parents, harms Serena in self-defense and finds a woman bound in the closet. On the run, Evie pieces together what really happened while trying to get a traumatized mute woman to trust her.
With just enough detail to keep me obsessed, harshly realistic and just utter chaos with mystery and intrigue.

Read Killer Potential by Hannah Deitch, and honestly? I feel like I just watched a true crime doc while stress-eating popcorn. The setup was chef’s kiss—murder, privilege, and an SAT tutor who suddenly finds herself in the middle of absolute chaos. The dark humor? Loved it. The pacing? Ehh, kind of all over the place. And the characters? Let’s just say I wanted to shake them a few times. It had its moments, but I didn’t love it. A fun but uneven ride!

This isn’t my usual genre but I was curious after seeing so many positive reviews. I’m so glad I took a chance as this was a hoot and I could not put it down. It is fast-paced, mysterious, gruesome yet tender, and totally engrossing. Even if you figure out a big twist early on, there are other twists that emerge and the journey to the twist is an enjoyable one. Recommended to anyone looking for an exciting read.

Thank you to William Morrow and NetGalley for the opportunity to read a copy.

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for an early release copy of Killer Potential by Hannah Deitch.

Killer Potential unfortunately doesn’t stand out to me, there isn’t much I can say that I enjoyed about the book. Evie and Jae were decent characters to follow but again nothing really stands out about them. The story itself held my interest enough for me to wonder what’s going to happen but I didn’t find it to be particularly thrilling, things were happening but at the same time things felt kind of convenient, the thrilling bits just weren’t hitting for me.

The writing also felt strange to me, it sometimes felt overly detailed about things that didn’t need that much of a description. Evie would have this inner monologue type of thing going (about her past) and it just didn’t add anything to the story, it happens quite a few times in here and I just wished she would have focused more on the present matters or did a full flash back type of thing. The romance adds an interesting aspect to the story but it just ends up falling flat, the characters hardly knew each other but by the end they are supposedly giving “I’d do anything for you” kind of vibes. I just didn’t feel that between them, they needed more time with each other for it to develop into something like that.

I really enjoyed this debut novel by Hannah Deitch. Former Gifted and Talented student turned SAT tutor, Evie Gordon, goes on the run for a crime she didn’t commit. I really liked Deitch’s writing style and look forward to more of her books! Thank you NetGalley and William Morrow for the ARC!

The description definitely caught my attention and I thought I would be into it. The Thelma and Louise comparison drew me in. However the book want for me and I guessed the plot twist early on and lost my drive to continue reading. I feel bad for rating it so low.

Let’s start with the title- so good, so apt. This book is all about potential- potential career, potential dreams, potential storylines, potential murder. I was up late flipping pages. The book had interesting themes and was well written- an impressive debut! That said, I also had some challenges. Evie is supposed to come from a lower income background in rural NC, she’s Jewish and gay- I had a hard time believing her identity...and I’ll acknowledge that might have been the point- she bucks assumptions, but I didn’t quite buy it. The romance was also…interesting. Without giving anything away, I’ll just say I wanted more from the last third of the book, but I was intrigued overall. I’m curious to see what the author writes next.

Short summary: Evie arrived at the Victor’s house prepared to tutor their daughter for the SATs, not become wanted for murder…even less to become a fugitive with a woman she discovered tied up beneath the stairs.

Thanks to Netgalley and William Morrow. ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.

This was quite an entertaining read! I liked the unique premise and the pace really kept me turning the pages. Recommended!

I tried to get into this book but it just wasn't for me. I was just board and was trying to get into it. I just don't think this author is for me.

I just finished “Killer Potential”, the debut novel of Hannah Deitch, and I’m honestly struggling to find anything positive to say about it.

I didn’t necessarily like it for reasons I can’t seem to pinpoint other than it felt very disingenuous to me. Like when people want you to know how smart and clever they think they are and it comes across as annoyingly presumptuous. This book was like someone who constantly drops into conversations that they went to Harvard.

At best I would say this book was overambitious. The plot really made no sense and it’s so obvious what the twist is that I hesitate to even call it a twist. I’m generally fine with suspension of disbelief, but there were just too many idiotic things that a supposedly intelligent and gifted woman did that had me sighing in annoyance and frustration.

If you like books that try to be overly academic while meandering around a patchy plot, metaphors that make zero sense and sound uber pretentious, and insta love between artificial characters that comes outta nowhere, then you’ll probably enjoy this book. I really wanted to like it based on the blurb, but unfortunately it fell short.

I received an ARC copy courtesy of William Morrow and NetGalley, however my review is completely my own unbiased personal opinion, left of my own volition.

Wow!! That a debut! Really enjoyed this cat and mouse game thriller! Thank you NetGalley and publisher for early arc of this book and opportunity to read it early! It’s well written, haunting and leaving you wanting more! Great book